Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is grateful to each and every one of our community members- faculty, staff, alumni and students for sticking with us, being flexible and adaptable, and trusting us as we navigated a very tumultuous year. 2020, the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife as designated by the World Health Organization, has shown us more than ever the crucial need for nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners, as well as the necessity for diversity, equity and inclusion to create a kinder, more compassionate, and equal world. Below are this year’s highlights- we hope you enjoy!
COVID-19:
The reigning theme of the year has been the COVID-19 pandemic. As it came to a head in the United States, we quickly pivoted from our regular in-person gatherings to a virtual capacity including, Clinical Bound, Frontier Bound, Commencement, and more. Though distanced, the Culture of Caring was not lost in the transition. We humbly thank our skilled and compassionate faculty members for being available to students in any way possible as we shifted to more of a world with which we were already familiar. Enjoy this video of our students discussing their experiences at their virtual Bound events.
It is never lost on us how hard our nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners work, but this year made it even more apparent. In response, we created Maintaining a Culture of Caring During Crisis, an overall hub for updates on COVID-19, FNU’s response, and highlighting our brave faculty, staff, and alumni on the front lines of this pandemic. Their stories can all be found here.
With so many in the healthcare community facing the COVID-19 frontlines, University President Dr. Susan Stone provided hope and community in a confusing time by sharing a supportive and reassuring message with the Frontier family. Additionally, as the university worked to transition to a new normal, our nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner faculty created important resources for self-care strategies, maternity care, and infection control for our front-line workers. All can be found in our Culture of Caring in Crisis playlist on YouTube.
Social Justice:
In addition to a global pandemic, racial tension swept the nation this summer, emphasizing the urgency of addressing the inequities that people of color face daily inside and outside of healthcare. President Dr. Susan Stone emphasized our zero tolerance for injustice, cruelty, and racism in a statement to all of the FNU community. The unjust deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many more showed that we have a long way to go in eradicating racism and the insidious effects it leaves in its path.
On June 3, 2020, FNU held a moment of silence to honor those whose lives were unjustly ended at the hands of law enforcement.
Social justice was also the backdrop against the 10th annual Diversity Impact Conference, which also went virtual this year. Themed “Year of the Nurse and Midwife 2020: Increasing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” this year’s DI conference brought significant attention to the disparities that have become even more prevalent and apparent in the COVID-19 pandemic but still culminated in a weekend of enlightenment and community. Each of our speakers presented compassionate and informative sessions on implicit racial bias, mental health, and more. Thank you to all who participated!
Commencement
On Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, FNU hosted its annual commencement ceremony virtually. More than 800 nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners gathered to celebrate themselves in a year where it is apparent how vital they are to healthcare. We welcomed keynote speaker Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Rear Admiral (RADM) Sylvia Trent-Adams, Ph.D., RN, FAAN and celebrated the winners of our leadership awards.
FNU Community Accomplishments:
FNU Dean of Nursing Dr. Joan Slager was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nurses (AAN) in a virtual ceremony on October 31, 2020.
FNU faculty member Dr. Catherine Collins-Fulea was inducted as the new president of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM), succeeding FNU President Dr. Susan Stone. Dr. Collins-Fulea’s honor was announced during ACNM’s 65th Annual Meeting from May 29 – June 2, 2020, along with several other faculty and staff presenting and receiving their honors!
For the third consecutive year, FNU received the 2020 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award, honoring our continued commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Programs and Events:
FNU hosted the 6th and 5th annual virtual events for National Midwifery Week and National Nurse Practitioner Week, where faculty members and student panelists presented on a variety of topics, especially relevant to racial bias in healthcare and the COVID-19 pandemic.
FNU also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Family Nurse Practitioner program.
Thanks again to our outstanding faculty and staff, students and alumni for showing immense compassion and strength throughout this unprecedented year. As we head into 2021, let us not forget all we have accomplished and all that we are capable of. Have a wonderful New Year!
Carrie Belin is an experienced board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins DNP program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She has also completed fellowships at Georgetown and the University of California Irvine.
Angie has been a full-scope midwife since 2009. She has experience in various birth settings including home, hospital, and birth centers. She is committed to integrating the midwifery model of care in the US. She completed her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and her Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as the midwifery clinical faculty at FNU. Angie is motivated by the desire to improve the quality of healthcare and has led quality improvement projects on skin-to-skin implementation, labor induction, and improving transfer of care practices between hospital and community midwives. In 2017, she created a short film on skin-to-skin called 
Justin C. Daily, BSN, RN, has ten years of experience in nursing. At the start of his nursing career, Justin worked as a floor nurse on the oncology floor at St. Francis. He then spent two years as the Director of Nursing in a small rural Kansas hospital before returning to St. Francis and the oncology unit. He has been in his current position as the Chemo Nurse Educator for the past four years. He earned an Associate in Nurse from Hutchinson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel College.
Brandy Jackson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs and Assistant Educator at Wichita State University and Co-Director of Access in Nursing. Brandy is a seasoned educator with over 15 years of experience. Before entering academia, Brandy served in Hospital-based leadership and Critical Care Staff nurse roles. Brandy is passionate about equity in nursing education with a focus on individuals with disabilities. Her current research interests include accommodations of nursing students with disabilities in clinical learning environments and breaking down barriers for historically unrepresented individuals to enter the nursing profession. Brandy is also actively engaged in Interprofessional Education development, creating IPE opportunities for faculty and students at Wichita State. Brandy is an active member of Wichita Women for Good and Soroptimist, with the goal to empower women and girls. Brandy is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. She received the DASIY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty in 2019 at Wichita State University. 
Dr. Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine is an Arab-disabled queer woman of color with a PhD in Nursing and an interdisciplinary certificate in Disability Ethics from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine now serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). During her doctoral program, Sabrina served as a Summer Fellow at a residential National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute at Arizona State University (2023), a summer fellow at Andrew W. Mellon’s National Humanities Without Walls program at University of Michigan (2022), a Summer Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute (2021), and an Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) trainee (2019-2020).
Vanessa Cameron works for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nursing Education & Professional Development. She is also attending George Washington University and progressing towards a PhD in Nursing with an emphasis on ableism in nursing. After becoming disabled in April 2021, Vanessa’s worldview and perspective changed, and a recognition of the ableism present within healthcare and within the culture of nursing was apparent. She has been working since that time to provide educational foundations for nurses about disability and ableism, provide support for fellow disabled nursing colleagues, and advocate for the disabled community within healthcare settings to reduce disparities.
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Yale University, specializing in nurse-midwifery, and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Canty has provided reproductive health care for over 29 years. Her research interests include the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, and eliminating racism in nursing and midwifery.
Dr. Lisa Meeks is a distinguished scholar and leader whose unwavering commitment to inclusivity and excellence has significantly influenced the landscape of health professions education and accessibility. She is the founder and executive director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative and holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Nikia Grayson, DNP, MSN, MPH, MA, CNM, FNP-C, FACNM (she/her) is a trailblazing force in reproductive justice, blending her expertise as a public health activist, anthropologist, and family nurse-midwife to champion the rights and health of underserved communities. Graduating with distinction from Howard University, Nikia holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in public health. Her academic journey also led her to the University of Memphis, where she earned a master’s in medical anthropology, and the University of Tennessee, where she achieved both a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice. Complementing her extensive education, she completed a post-master’s certificate in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).